Um, if you can wait until fall, Just Fruits and Exotics in Florida has the most awesome trees. A little pricey, but they are far bigger than anything from any other mail order nursery. They would ship in mid October, probably still safe for planting where you are, I guess the other option would be to overwinter in a garage or other sheltered place.

You can e-mail them to ask about availability. I wanted a couple of 'Prok' this fall, and even though now listed as "out of stock", I sent them an e-mail about 4 weeks, and they told me they are growing a fresh crop for fall and reserved 2 in my name.

They are a wonderful company to deal with, hence the "Top 5" rating on the garden watch dog site.

Here is a link that might be useful: Persimmon page on their website

Thanks Denninmi. Love their website. For some reason they list Saijo as only hardy to zone 7, and everyone else seems to state it is hardy to -10. I will call and ask them.

Saijo has been fully winter-hardy on D.virginiana for me here in z6 KY, about 70 mi NW of Nashville TN - and ripens its fruits well before the onset of winter freezes. IMO it's one of the most cold-hardy - right up there with Sheng and Great Wall.

Saijo is a good choice. Womack and Just Fruits both use D.virginiana for rootstock. Both good operations, I have several persimmon from both. J&F will ship a potted tree, and a large pot compared to most shipped potted plants about a 10 inch diameter and probably 18 inch deep and the shipping is expensive as a result. Womack will send bareroot, and the tree's I received from them were large with massive roots.

I have a Saijo from Just Fruits and Exotics. Nice tree, very vigorous, breaks bud reasonably late. Unpruned, this tree is 20 x 20 after 10 years. A Sheng they sent me is even larger, about 25 feet tall. These could have been pruned to keep much smaller for easier harvesting.

Glad you all don't think I am crazy for trying this! I appreciate all of your responses.

Good to hear that Saijo is hardy for you, Lucky. Are all your Asians on native rootstock?

Strudeldog and Creekweb , thanks for the info on JF and Womacks. Both trees sound great. Seems like Womack might have a minimum order requirement of $60, which is normally no problem as I buy too many plants each year, but I am running out of space. (Or so my husband
says!).

Thanks again!

Yes. Have never purchased a persimmon tree - graft all my own on seedling D.virginiana rootstock. I have purchased scionwood of varieties I wanted, but usually can trade for most stuff.
That said, I've never heard anything but good reviews on Womack or JF&E - don't think you can go wrong with either.

lucky_p, from where do you purchase scion wood?

I have a few rootstocks wanting to be grafted next spring.